Tennessee Arts & Rural Health Initiative Grant

The Tennessee Arts & Rural Health Initiative Grant, funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission, aims to enhance health and wellness in rural hospitals through arts-based programs. With a budget of $75,000 from the NEA, the initiative supports 4-6 hospitals, offering grants between $5,000 to $25,000. Projects may include artist-led classes, meditation gardens, and healing spaces, leveraging the therapeutic power of the arts to improve patient outcomes and community engagement in healthcare settings.

The Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC) was awarded $75,000 by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to fund a new statewide initiative, Tennessee Arts & Rural Health. In conjunction with additional state funding, this new initiative seeks to use the arts as a way of adding value in increasing health and wellness outcomes by using arts-based activities and programs involving patients, their families, and staff in rural TN hospitals.
Background
Rural hospitals often lack the resources to effectively use interventions like the arts to create programs that increase patient health and wellness outcomes, build healing environments where staff and patients can thrive, and improve the quality of life through participation in the creative arts. Research has shown that when the arts is used in conjunction with medical care, patient health outcomes increase. The use of the arts in medical settings has proven to provide a therapeutic, low-cost, non-pharmacological alternative to medications. Examples in the research include using music to improve cognition and memory in Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients or using dance to improve physical mobility of Parkinson patients. Even within hospitals, participation in the arts can stimulate therapy and engagement with patients, help families connect with their loved ones, enhance staff hospital relationships, and help to contribute to the patient’s comfort and well-being. The arts have many benefits and is proving to be a vital tool in improving overall health and wellness for many people.
Funding and Examples of Proposed Projects
The Commission seeks to fund 4-6 rural hospitals from $5,000 up to $25,000 each to create or continue arts and health programming involving patients, their families, or staff. A minimum of one award will be made in each of the state’s three grand divisions (i.e., East, Middle, & West). Projects must involve an arts form or component (i.e., music, dance, visual arts, literary arts, etc.).
Examples of proposed projects that could be implemented in rural hospitals include:

• Artist infused spaces that lead to the creation of murals at the hospital
• Meditation gardens with public art component
• Arts exhibition space for hospital lobbies
• Creation of arts healing spaces by patients and staff
• Professional artist-led art classes held at hospital for in-patients and their families

Eligibility

For this initiative, only hospitals based in rural counties in Tennessee will be considered. The rural designation is defined by the Governor’s Rural Task Force as well as the designation for rural used by the Commission’s Rural Arts Project Support and Small Rural Partnership Support grant programs.Eligible applicants must have a 501c3 status or operate as a local entity of government. Either the rural hospital or a rural nonprofit arts or non-arts organization can apply but the arts or non-arts organizations must partner with a rural hospital to provide the programmingAn organization is eligible to apply for funding if the organization is legally chartered in Tennessee and operates as a local entity of TN government or has an active IRS 501(c)3 status, can provide a current copy of the organization’s bylaws, Board of Directors, and an active federal Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).